Open AccessClinical Significance of Monitoring Circulating CD4+CD25+Regulatory T Cells in Kidney Transplantation during the Early Posttransplant Period
Author(s) -
Su Hyun Kim,
EunJee Oh,
Jung Yeon Ghee,
Ho Kyung Song,
Dong He Han,
Hye Eun Yoon,
Bum Soon Choi,
Seung Kew Yoon,
Jong Young Choi,
In Sung Moon,
Dong Goo Kim,
Chul Woo Yang
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of korean medical science/journal of korean medical science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1598-6357
pISSN - 1011-8934
DOI - 10.3346/jkms.2009.24.s1.s135
Subject(s) - elispot , calcineurin , subclinical infection , il 2 receptor , transplantation , medicine , immunology , kidney transplantation , immune system , antibody , t cell
The CD4(+)CD25(+) T regulatory cells (Tregs) play an important role in immune tolerance in experimental transplantation but the clinical significance of circulating Tregs in the peripheral blood is undetermined. In 50 kidney transplant (KT) recipients, 29 healthy controls and 32 liver transplant (LT) recipients, the frequency of Tregs was measured with flow cytometry before and after transplantation. In the KT recipients, IL-10 secretion was measured with an enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) assay. The median frequency of circulating Tregs before KT was similar to that in healthy controls but significantly lower than that in LT patients before transplantation. The frequency of Tregs was significantly decreased in patients with subclinical acute rejection compared with those without subclinical acute rejection. Calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs) and anti-CD25 antibody decreased the frequency of Tregs but mTOR inhibitor did not. The frequency of donor-specific IL-10 secreting cells did not correlate with the number of Tregs. The frequency of circulating Tregs in KT recipients is strongly affected by CNIs and anti-CD25 antibody, and a low frequency of Tregs is associated with subclinical acute rejection during the early posttransplant period.